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Update..4-2-2022...and no-one from govt or any other official body has come on to dispute me about Archbold having a personal vendetta againdt Bates Colliery in the 1980-s..Now the Russian President Putin has invaded Ukraine,and is cutting oil and Gas supplies off to the West,our energy prices are rising by thousands of pounds a year,it will be interesting to see if we re-open some of the drier pits in Nottingham and other places...gotta dae summick!!

I have pics I took of the bandstand doon the picnic field,aroond 1962-ish,when I got my new Halina 35x Camera for Christmas off Cathy,my lass..[now my Wife of 54 years married!]. I took the pics as a reference to learn how to drive the camera,cos it seemed complicated,at the time!! It hadn't been built very lang,then I took more pics after it was restored and the Murals were painted in recent years..aal post them if a can find them.

Hi Folks,a bit late,but just caught up with one! Around 1962,my lass got me a camera for Christmas,and to gain experience and to learn how to drive it,[yes!..Shutter speed,aperture,focus,depth of field..rings!],I went around taking reference pics of objects and places which I knew would always be the same...including this stone. Well ,I knew about this stone from being a kid about 10 yrs old..maybe younger!,cos us kids used to play all over Bedlington,Cemetary included! Now my theory of objects I thought would never change,is blasted to hell! I was saddened to see how this stone has deteriorated over the the last 60 years,since I took those pics! Us kids always thought that the figures at each side were Werewolves!...I learned later in life that they were Gargoyles,and the purpose of them was to ward off evil spirits!..I stand to be re-educated on that one Canny Lass! If ever I can find those old photos,I will post them,and you would see how much this stone has deteriorated,partly due to vandalism..the chips taken out of the top ridge suggests that modern kids haven't been like us kids,and just played,they have been destructive..we just used to climb the conker trees or play hidey seek in the dark neets!.. 1741..it's stood there a long time eh?!